Tales of Telling Stories
by west-haven
Summary: A collection of short stories and drabbles for the series Kino's Journey. [New story: A Story of Reading Glasses]
1. A Story of Animals

This is going to the the place where I'll dump all of my small Kino's Journey drabbles. Please enjoy:D

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"... Kino. What the heck is THAT?"

She looked down at a plaque in front of the window and read, "Giraffa camelopardalis, the giraffe."

Hermes was quiet for a moment then said, "Mello."

"What was that?"

"I just named it! Isn't that a nice name for a ge-raft?" She could tell in Hermes' voice that he was proud. Slowly she wheeled Hermes away from the giraffe now named Mello. "Bye bye" He called childishly back to it. The giraffe paid no mind to the traveler and her partner, but he didn't care.

At the next display, she peered around until she spotted the animal and pointed it out to Hermes. He bounced on his stand when he saw the giant panda. "Oh wow look at that big bear! Ryu could eat you in one bite!"

"... you named an animal again?"

"Of course! Don't that bear look like a Ryu?"

"Hermes, that isn't a bear. It's a panda."

"But...!" Hermes started as Kino rolled him away once more.

They rounded a corner and found some small tanks with no water in them. She scooted Hermes close to a bottom one as she peered in them.

"AAHH!!" Hermes yelled when he got a good look inside. Kino jumped back a little and stared at him.

"What's wron-" she started but Hermes cut her off, "SNAKE! OH GOD HIDE ME KINO!!"

She didn't question his fear of them and quickly guided him down the corridor. Hermes whimpered when they passed more tanks.

"Did you name the snake?"

He made an odd noise, "Why the heck would I want to name a snake??"

Kino grinned and shook her head as they left the zoo.


	2. A Story of More Motorrads

Kino slowly pushed Hermes through the mildly crowded streets, making sure not to step on anyone▓s toes in the literal sense. Her motorrad had already rolled over a few feet, causing his owner to apologize and rush away before she could become even more embarrassed.

"It's not my fault but I have to say sorry on your behalf," she grumbled as she steered Hermes on. "It's 'cause you're so large..."

"Hey! I'm not fat! I'm just big framed!!" Kino rolled her eyes at his response.

She was going to come up with a reply when they passed a store with large windows, the sun shining in on the wares they sold. Kino immediately backtracked with Hermes in tow to peek inside.

There were rows and rows of motorcycles, accessories, parts, gas. If Hermes had a mouth, it would be dropped to the floor at the sheer amount of items they had there.

Kino, too, admired it all, and then found herself wheeling her partner into the store. She could hear some whirling and activity in a back room, so she guessed that the owner was hard at work on something.

Even though she wouldn't trade in Hermes for anything in the world, Kino just loved browsing. It seemed to make her just as content as she feels when she practices and cares for her guns.

She reached the end of a row when a rather large motorcycle caught her eye. It looked nothing like Hermes and had so many bells and whistles, it was more of a car than a motorrad. "Check out that motorcycle, Hermes."

Hermes snorted. "...It's not all that great..."

Kino laughed at his pride and started out the door. "Nothing is as great as you." 


	3. Not Quite Sick

Warning! This chapter mentions some, erm, 'womanly themes' in it. So any boys out there might want to watch out. 

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Kino slumped over onto the bed. Even though her stomach cramped up more than ever now, it was bliss to be on a bed. A muffled groan alerted Hermes.

"Kino... are you okay? Are you sick?" he meekly asked.

Her back was to him so she couldn't see her face as she searched for an explanation easy enough for a motorrad to understand. She couldn't really find one so she just simply replied, "It's something that comes with being a woman."

Hermes seemed to take that the wrong way. "Are you... pregnant?" He was embarrassed to even say the word.

Kino grinned. "Yeah, Hermes I am. And you're the father."

"WHAT!!??"

She sat up and slowly turned to him. "Soon we'll have a bunch of little motorrads riding around. They'll all call you 'daddy'. You should be proud of yourself."

"But-but Kino...!" He started, but when he saw her grin, he knew Kino was just playing around. "Kino!! You shouldn't do that to me!"

She laughed and turned back over on her bed. Now she felt just a bit better and could now sleep comfortably. Her dreams were filled with baby motorcycles.


	4. Present

She was reclined back on her bed, comfortable for once, when Hermes asked her a rather odd question. "Kino, when's your birthday?" 

Kino sat up and looked at him for a moment. There was consideration written all over her face as she pondered the question. Many dates flashed in her mind, all not quite right.

"I... am not really sure anymore..." she started. "Its been many years since I've celebrated it."

"Oh..." Hermes sounded disappointed.

"I do remember that the day we started traveling was my birthday. But I don't know the date." Kino looked back at Hermes and smiled. "You're the best present I ever got."

If a motorrad could blush, he would be doing so now. Instead, his embarrassment was heard in his meek voice. "Really, Kino?"

"Really." She said as she got up from the bed and sat down on her partner. She ran her fingers over his cool handlebars, coming down to his smooth gas tank, then back up to pat his headlight. If they weren't inside of a building, Kino would love to have cranked him up a little, just to hear the comforting purr of his motor. Instead, she just yawned and dismounted.

"Tomorrow we leave this country, so we better get our rest."

Just as she was in her bed, Hermes spoke again. "Oh and Kino? Happy birthday."

Kino opened her mouth to reply, "But, today's not my..." Suddenly, she just laughed and shook her head. "Ah, thank you Hermes."


	5. A Story of Reading Glasses

Her eyes sped across the page, drinking in the printed words like water. Even though the darkness of the forest around her was pitch black, she was still able to read with just a little help. 

"Kino, why do you have glasses on?" Her partner asked.

She peeked above the book, looking at Hermes. Her hair was a bit messy from the fruitless effort of trying to get comfortable in her sleeping bag. Two bright lights shone from the odd looking glasses on her face.

"Oh, I see. You want to read so badly that you'll wear those things..."

"Why not?" she questioned. "We bought these some time ago but I never used them. So when I got this new book, I thought it would be the perfect time to put these to use."

"What are you reading this time? I can't see the title from here..." Kino's knees were supporting the book and thus hiding the cover from Hermes. "Lemme read it!"

"But Hermes... this isn't your kind of book..." she said, a little uncomfortable.

He snorted. "Ah, but you don't know what kind I do like! Tell me!" She sighed and Hermes knew he won the small argument.

"It's a romance novel." Kino said flatly. Hermes gagged in response.

"Oh yuck! Next you'll be telling me you read those dirty books too!"

At his comment, her face colored pink. "I knew it was going to be hard to read in front of you, so I guess I'll just sleep in front of you. Good night." She jerked her reading glasses off and turned out the little lights on them. Kino burrowed back into her blankets even though she was itching to get back to her book. But she knew that Hermes would try to pester her all throughout it, just to prevent her from concentrating. The rest of the book will have to be finished later, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

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The idea for this drabble came from a picture of Kino from one of the artbooks. It's actually one of my favorite Kino pictures ever. XD

http :// i222 .photobucket .com / albums / dd219 / chibi(underscore)no(underscore)tabi / Kino(percent)20no(percent)20Tabi /kinohermesglasses2 . jpg

Just take out all the spaces, replace the understore with an underscore, and the precent with the percent signs to see it. (Sheesh, this place is weird on links.)

And am I the only one out there who could almost see Kino reading romance novels? XD It just sounds so... _Kino_ to me for some reason.


End file.
